First Three Percent Engagement Worksheet
Find the first to rise. Invite them. Track the rising.
Companion to Step 3 — Engaging The First Three Percent. The canon names the 3% beautifully but never tells you how to actually go find your 300. This worksheet does. Work it as a Steering Committee, and keep it living.
The Target, Made Concrete
For a community of 10,000, your first 3% is ~300 people. But you do not invite 300 at once. You reach them in waves of resonance:
| Wave | Who | Rough size | How you reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | The Steering Committee | 4–7 | Already here |
| First Circle | People each founder already trusts | ~30 | Personal invitation, one conversation each |
| Circle of Circles | The people they trust | ~100 | Each new person opens their own network |
| The 3% | The wider already-ready | ~300 | Gatherings, story, the flame spreading on its own |
You are not building an audience of 300. You are lighting ~30 fires that each light their own.
Part 1 — Name the Already-Ready (do this first)
Each founder lists 5–10 people who, in their gut, would say yes to the One Thing before you finished explaining it. Look for the four qualities (from The First Three Percent): Awakened Awareness · Commitment to Unity · Visionary Leadership · Service-Oriented Action.
| Name | Who knows them | Why they're ready | Best person to invite | Invited? | Said yes? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ☐ | ☐ |
| ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ☐ | ☐ |
| ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ‹ › | ☐ | ☐ |
Rule: an invitation is always a personal conversation, never a broadcast. The 3% spreads by trust, Circle to Circle — not by campaign.
Part 2 — Reach Across the Divides
List the lines your community is divided by (faith, politics, class, neighborhood, generation, race). For each, name one trusted bridge person. A 3% drawn from only one side will found a Company that serves only one side.
| Division in our community | A trusted bridge across it |
|---|---|
| ‹ › | ‹ › |
| ‹ › | ‹ › |
Part 3 — The Invitation Itself
A good invitation does three things: names the urgency, offers the Way, and asks for a yes to one small next step (come to a gathering — not "join forever").
"‹Name›, something is emerging that I think you would resonate with. A few of us are building a way for our community to actually govern and provide for itself. I thought of you immediately. Would you be willing to join one of our upcoming gatherings?"
Adapt to your own voice and each person. Sincerity works a lot better than scripts.
Part 4 — Track the Rising
Keep a simple living count. Celebrate each threshold — momentum is itself a message.
- People personally invited: ‹ ›
- People who have said yes: ‹ ›
- People now inviting others: ‹ › ← this is the number that matters most
- Next gathering date: ‹ ›
When people you never invited start showing up because someone they trust invited them — the flame is being passed. Move toward Step 4 — Learning to Play The New Game.
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